In the 15th year since Singles' Day turned into a shopping festival, we suddenly discovered that even the words "Double 11" themselves are still on the "pending" list of the Trademark Office!   
The trademark moat laid down by Alibaba ten years in advance has quietly left a crack?   
This tweet shows you a registry——




one ⃣  Conclusion:
Double 11 "≠ Taobao's private property, at least in the core battlefield of Class 35 advertising sales, it is still undecided.   
In other words, if you open a "Double 11 Discount Supermarket" now, theoretically you won't receive a lawyer's letter immediately - but don't get too excited too early, the rest is full of devil's attention to detail.


two ⃣  Timeline brings back to 2012:
Alibaba submitted all 45 types of registrations in one go, including "Double 11", "Double 11", and "Double 11 Carnival".   
At that time, the media joked that Alibaba had registered all the "festivals", would everyone have to say "the big promotion in November" in the future?   
But the Trademark Office is not that easy to talk to——
In 2014, "Double 11" was rejected in 35 categories on the grounds of lack of distinctiveness and being a generic name.   
In 2015, "Double 11 has arrived" was rejected, and Aliti underwent a re examination, which is still in line to this day.   
In 2018, the "Double 11 Shopping Carnival" was once again rejected due to exaggerated advertising.   
In 2020, the "Double 11 Carnival" was unexpectedly approved, becoming the only 35 class trademark in Alibaba's hands that contains the words "Double 11" and has already taken effect.


So the situation became:
 Having the 'Double 11 Carnival'
There is no 'Double 11'
 There is no 'Double 11' here
There is no 'Double 11 Shopping Carnival'


three ⃣  How important is Class 35?   
It is responsible for "advertising, promoting for others, and online retail".   
Almost all banners, pop ups, and live streaming scripts on e-commerce platforms fall into this category.   
Not winning the 35 category "Double 11" is like leaving a window for competitors——


Can JD.com say 'JD Double 11 is as low as 50% off'?   
Can Pinduoduo write 'Pinduoduo Double 11 Subsidy'?   
Legally speaking, as long as they avoid the words' carnival ', they do not infringe on Alibaba's registered trademark.   
So every year before the big promotion, there are more "11.11" posters on various platforms than "Double 11", which is not unreasonable.


four ⃣  How can Alibaba make up for the lost sheep?   
① Make the registered "Double Eleven" trademarks (35 categories) into a big stick for rights protection, whoever sees, who shoots;   
② Double insurance with "Double 11 Carnival" and copyright registration, packaging the "Cat Evening" and "Cat Head" graphics together;   
③ Attempting cross class protection through the recognition of "well-known trademarks";   
④ Invest in media to turn "Double 11=Tmall" into a popular mindset and fill legal gaps.


five ⃣  How do opponents see and take action?   
JD.com directly applied for the "JD Double 11" in 2019, but was rejected. However, it turned to register for the "11.11 JD Global Goods Festival" and started anew;   
Pinduoduo is even more outstanding, turning the "billion yuan subsidy" into its own IP and downplaying holiday labels;   
Tiktok simply focuses on such self made festivals as "818" and "921", and uses time difference to avoid sharp points.


six ⃣  What should novice merchants do?   
⚠️  Remember three sentences:
1. Do not use the words "Double 11" alone in the poster, add prefixes or suffixes, such as "Our Double 11 Pet Fans Day";   
2. Don't register the "Double 11" as a store name or public name. The success rate of Ali's complaints is as high as 90%;   
If you really want to take advantage of it, go to approved categories such as 25 clothing, 30 snacks, and 43 catering, and create product trademarks without touching category 35.


seven ⃣  Cold Knowledge Easter Egg
Singles' Day was originally a dormitory culture at Nanjing University, and in 1993 it was just a campus joke;   
In 2009, Alibaba conducted its first promotion with sales of 52 million yuan from 27 merchants, while the internal KPI was only 30 million yuan at that time;   
In 2024, the total online transaction volume is 1.4 trillion yuan, equivalent to Iceland's annual GDP;   
In the archives of the "Double 11" trademark office, there are still 54240 applications in line, which is more than the population of Iceland as a whole.


eight ⃣  What is the future script about?   
① Once the review is passed, Alibaba will complete the last piece of the puzzle, and the 35 categories of "Double 11" will return to their original positions, officially ending the era of riding on traffic;   
② If the re examination is rejected again, Alibaba can only take the route of "anti dilution of well-known trademarks", and the cost of rights protection will increase tenfold;   
③ The most magical possibility is that the Trademark Office has determined that "Double 11" has become a generic name and rejected all exclusive applications. From then on, the world will be united and anyone can shout for it——
On that day, Alibaba may have to thank itself for turning "Tmall Double 11" into another new brand.


nine ⃣  A word of advice to all content creators:
In trademark law, popularity ≠ attribution.   
Traffic can create gods overnight, and it can also generalize overnight.   
The "Double 11" mentioned in the joke today may become a common vocabulary in the dictionary tomorrow.   
Instead of betting on who it belongs to, it's better to bet on whether you can become the next 'cat night'.